Boyfriend brought home 6 GSP's

[akamasha]

Hello i'm not entirely new to puffers. I currently have 3 dp's in a 10 gallon heavily planted tank. they were just moved from a 55 gallon tank. they are doing fine. But my boyfriend saw that my 55 gallon tank was empty and decided to go get some fish. He came home with 6 2"-2.5" GSP'S and dumped them right in. I can home to seeing them and called the walmart asking if i can return some of them but the lady on the phone said no. The tank they are in is cycled and has been running for about 4 months. I live in a area where people are constantly giving these away and i would prefer to keep them.

So here are my questions.

Can i keep that many in a 55 gallon tank?
It is heavily planted with fake plants and a huge sunken ship with hiding spots. Running 2 tetra Whisper Power Filters model 60

What do you suggest for feeding them a variety of food?
So far they like snails and frozen blood worms.

How often and how much should i be doing a water change for this many in 1 tank?

Will it be possible to keep them all?
I probably won't be able to get ride of them anytime soon in this area.

And how can i slowly move in to brackish water and keep it at a certain level for them if i am having to change water often?

Sorry but i haven't had much time on this site and i will be reading as much as possible in the future. For now any help will be greatly appreciated

[spoot]

Hello i'm not entirely new to puffers. I currently have 3 dp's in a 10 gallon heavily planted tank. they were just moved from a 55 gallon tank. they are doing fine. But my boyfriend saw that my 55 gallon tank was empty and decided to go get some fish. He came home with 6 2"-2.5" GSP'S and dumped them right in. I can home to seeing them and called the walmart asking if i can return some of them but the lady on the phone said no. The tank they are in is cycled and has been running for about 4 months. I live in a area where people are constantly giving these away and i would prefer to keep them.

If they tank was empty for 4 months, it is not longer cycled. It will need a constant ammonia source to keep it cycled.


So here are my questions.

Can i keep that many in a 55 gallon tank?
It is heavily planted with fake plants and a huge sunken ship with hiding spots. Running 2 tetra Whisper Power Filters model 60

It is recommended to have 30 gallons per GSP. So you could do max 2.


What do you suggest for feeding them a variety of food?
So far they like snails and frozen blood worms.

Check out the Feeding Article in the "Library" under the "Learn" Tab.

How often and how much should i be doing a water change for this many in 1 tank?

You should check the water parameters early often and do water changes as necessary.

Will it be possible to keep them all?
I probably won't be able to get ride of them anytime soon in this area.

They will fight and possibly kill each other in a tank this small.

And how can i slowly move in to brackish water and keep it at a certain level for them if i am having to change water often?

Do water changes as normal, except you will have to premix the salt in the WC bucket before adding to the tank.

Sorry but i haven't had much time on this site and i will be reading as much as possible in the future. For now any help will be greatly appreciated[/quote]

[crazedpuffer]

Maybe zombiefetus could help you out with them, except if you are planning on a 180 gallon tank just for them.
Are you positive they are GSPs?

[akamasha]

I think that they are GSPs. From what i have seen on line of the pics of them they look like that what they are. Right now the only choice i have is to keep them. There isn't anyone around that will take any of them. i have called all 3 of my local pet stores and only one has brackish water and they said they couldn't take them.

[Agnate]

They don't grow particularly fast, so you might be okay for a while, but they get to be 6 inches... and due to their aggressive nature, they don't usually enjoy close proximities to each other. However, if you have no other choice, then you'll have to stick with it and hunt around for a bigger tank or multiple tanks to split them up.

Decorate the tank HEAVILY with lots of caves (you can get those cheap orange ceramic pots and PVC piping with an end-cap) and fake plants to break up lines of site and such.

Also, make sure you have Prime dechlorinator (also detoxifies ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate), as your tank is likely not cycled, which will cause problems for the puffers VERY soon.

As for measuring the marine salt in the tank, you will need a Hydrometer. If its freshwater right now and you have live plants, you probably should remove the plants (as they will likely die). Only raise the salinity by about 0.002 SG MAX per week. Bring the tank up to 1.008-1.010 over the next 5-6 weeks, as those GSPs should definitely be in mid-range brackish, at least.

Hope that helps a bit!

[akamasha]

Thanks for the information

The 55 gallon tank should be cycled. i only took the DP's out 3 days ago , and i borrowed the 2 filter media that are about 3 weeks old from my 55 gallon community tank early this morning, and everything seems ok so far.I went out and bought some marine salt called oceanic natural sea salt mix, and the only hydrometer that i could find anywhere in my area but it starts out at 1.012-1.032 i don't think this well help me at all for now. I want to start the acclimation process to brackish the sooner the better. i don't know how much salt to mix up to add to the tank to start without a hydrometer that is lower to start. I have a 5 gallon bucket, power head, and extra airline for slowly adding to the tank. if i order a hydrometer online i will have to wait 2 weeks or more for it to get here, and I don't want to wait to change to brackish for that long. Any suggestion ?

Here are some pics of the tank so far, i will be adding more deco when i get more money.

[Agnate]

Okay, well, the Hydrometer is a bit of a must in order to be accurate, but you should be able to make due until then. If you're going to ORDER a hydrometer, I might suggest that you order a Refractometer instead. They're infinitely more accurate and are overall a better investment (especially if you're going to have to pay the shipping and such). I can get a Refractometer around here for $45, so check Ebay as some people have gotten good deals from there.

As for the amount of salt, my rough-estimate measuring was about 1/4 cup of Oceanic salt in a 2 gallon bucket to achieve approximately 1.008-1.009 SG. So, for you, I'd suggest starting out at 1/4 cup of salt in a 5 gallon bucket (giving you around 1.003 SG, I imagine) and then only changing out maybe 1/3 of your tank's water. This should get SOME marine salt in the tank (around 1.001, which I imagine will make your little puffs a bit happier) but shouldn't be enough to cause problems to your filter bacteria. Next week, do the same process, but change out maybe 1/2 the water (should bring you up around 1.002 SG). Same again on the third week (you'll be closer to 1.003 SG). By then, you should have a hydrometer/refractometer to work with so you can accurately raise it by 0.001-0.002 per week.

[akamasha]

Thank you so much Agnate ! i will be getting started on this right away. And i will looking into ordering a Refractometer also. Unfortunately i have already ordered the Hydrometer i guess that i can post it on craigslist for cheap. Have a great day and thanks again

[zombiefetus]

Make sure your #1 priority is water changes. Check the levels at the least every other day. Get a good liquid test kit, this will be vital in keeping them alive. 6 GSPs produce an enormous amount of waste. Body wise, how do they look? Any bites, missing fins, fungus', Ich, sunken in stomachs? A lot of them might have internal Parasites, it's fairly common with puffers, but can be fatal if left untreated.
Definitely don't try to return them to Walmart. They have a policy to flush returned fish.
If you need help with them I could take a few. I personally have space for one, and I know two people here who love my GSP and have been wanting one of their own, so unless you're planning on upgrading to a 180 rather soon (I'd say you need at least a 100g in the next 6months if you're planning up upgrade slowly and then a 180g less than a year after that, you could upgrade slower than that, like getting a 75g, then a 100g, then a 120g, etc. But unless you want to keep up with daily waterchanges, you want to get a bigger tank as soon as you can), you could send 2-4 to me and I could get them homes.
I'm actually visiting relatives in Portland, OR right now, but I get home in a week (next tuesday).
It sounds like you're doing a good job with everything else though, keep up water changes, and I'd suggest starting them on IP medication, make sure they get good nutrition, and they should all be fine.

[Happy_Puffer]

I have one in a 14 gallon which is the new qt tank and I add 1 tbs and then 2 teaspoons to make my level about 1.006. He is really small and I didn't know if he was gonna make it so I bought him to help him and I was going to take him back to get a good home and then a 55 gallon tank dropped into my lap for free so I get to keep him! Until I got my hydrometer I just added a teaspoon per gallon. I would start maybe half that so you don't shock them. I don't kno if this is good advice but this is what I do until he moves to my 55 marine tank.

[akamasha]

To zombiefetus :

They are very healthy and happy right now and eating very well so far blood worms krill,brine shrimp, a little bit of earth worms,and lots of snails. They have nice fat white bellies, Fins are all intact and they seem to love the air stone i have in the tank. They are playing in th air bubbles all the time

I have heard horror stories about walmart, but fortunately the chick working there told me that they wouldn't take them back, and that they had just got them in stock.

[Pufferpunk]

Happy, I don't see how that amount of salt could bring up the SG to 1.006. I find, eoughtly, it takes about a cup of salt/5g to raise the SG .005.

[Happy_Puffer]

When I do a water change a big one I add the same amount of salt. I used a hydrometer and thats what it told me. I don't know how I got that, someone told me that I should add that to my tank but he told me that it should be aqu. salt but that is wrong so I started doing that and it has worked or maybe its just wrong.

[Agnate]

Happy_Puffer, try testing your hydrometer in distilled water (or even tap water, if you let it settle in a bucket for a day) and see what your reading is at. I have a feeling your hydrometer might be misleading you.

[Happy_Puffer]

I have tested the tap water and when I did it had a reading at first of like 1.002 and I was like WHAT?? But then when I set it on the sink it went all the way down to zero. I put it in the tank and then I look at it when it comes out and then I set it down and look at it then I leave it there while I do something else just to make sure it doesn't swing or anything stupid. I don't know I have been adding more salt and taking out less water so when I started doing that it wasn't that high but has become that high over time, since I am bringing my tank up slowly. Since my gsps are moving to full marine I haven't had them for a while, my boyfriend has them so I haven't checked the tank in a while.